Frost_edelweiss

You meant I assume, they "have their own way" of appreciating,. Sure, actually no rating expresses anything else than a given sensibility, from an average taken from subjective ratings. I don't believe there are God-given objective ratings, whatever "metrics" are used to justify numbers.
As for Douban vs MDL ratings, they are just like little bells, rattles, to toy with. Some have established a scale of sorts to use them. It really depends on one's personal sensibility to take them into consideration, or not., like some do astrology charts

Actually, even though I add in my small modest (and I admit it, subjective and lenient) rating, "only once I am through watching a drama", I don't really look at the other ones because I don't feel comfortable being influenced or choosing to watch or watch on because some people quickly drew the revolver to shoot up or down some work. I try to refrain from watching these ratings as long as possible, although sometimes it is not easy, when fans or anti-fans are at work.

I don't mind fans, they do what they are supposed to do: support the artists they admire and their work. But I really loathe anti-fans who pull at everything (and high highhandedly want to be "directing opinion", sometimes boasting about their degrees and experience -- I have plenty of those too, but choose not to oppose with my own credentials: I am not here to act as God or Expert - except in some tiny fields where I do disclose some shreds of why), to destroy the possible pleasure of those who come not for a war of members of audience, but to enjoy, sometimes differently.

Why do audience come to a Drama page? Is it only to be directed by ratings or to exchange some information that enhances their personal interest in what they are watching? The latter is my option. I remember asking questions when I first watched LLTG, and being kindly informed by those who knew the novel about why some things looked particularly cruel, but were not heartless. Thanking again CloudA who put together also some invaluable videos to explain background and enhance my pleasure, at the time. She is busy again with similar videos which may have me stay with some currently airing dramas, -- if I find time for them. I admit these days, I prefer to watch more relaxing not "top tier" material dramas (although the relaxing one I watch has surprisingly shot to n°1 in views on TV, according to Marcus' weekly report). Heading over to watch latest episode : they are trickling too slowly, sure, but I don't mind - it is the relaxing quality I am after there, just now. I started almost same way with Ni Hao 1983 (streaming category) but really got into that drama also for the interesting music used there which I made a thread for in Discussions section of relevant drama page.

Unveil Jadewind was still in the "top ten" according to the Marcus weekly report this Sunday, placing n°9 in TV series : that also shows it still holds audiences attention, good for the cast and crew!

But yes ratings are too "totalitarian" as if everything could be measured to same size. You are totally right to take these "with a grain of salt". . It sure is not same way one appreciates xianxia or police dramas or biographies or slice of life, or plain comedy, be it romance or else.... Some "good" scores on MDL and Douban may not at all conform to individual tastes anyway. Some dramas that have high scores were boring to me when I first ventured to watch them "on reputation", and I had to wait until I found time to get back to them to like them better or decide that finally no, it was not my cup of tea.

Measuring to commercial value is finally not such a bad choice: it does make sense both for productions and for "those who want to know what is hot in c-dramaland" at a given time. Those observers who report to us these Maoyan etc metrics have an interesting angle. These also explain how some dramas get released on platforms that allow a broader segment of audience abroad vs domestic one only. Of course they are better understood by industry insiders than by us lay audiences.

Some wuxia and some but not over much cultivation in this, in my opinion, although YWY does impose hands on badly injured Xing'er's back to transfer some esoteric strength, and there are some impressive martial arts moments plus taking pulse that (sometimes) border wuxia sects like characteristics. But the Yuwen "brothers" (or cousins etc) belong to a powerful clan rather than to some sect tied to a sacred mountain, and are supposed to support the emperor in Chang'an, who is not a practitioner of the esoteric, despite his wish to maintain or create a body of highly trained secret agents. They do research sects for talents and YWY suspected Xing'er could have come from such a secret sect.

Princess Agents is definitely not like LBFAD (which is xianxia) nor do I feel it is like LOTFG or TPOB although both these are "imaginary" historical. Nor is it related to events like in Legend of The Condor Heroes where the northern grasslands are also very much present, like in PA but where cultivation and fantasy are very much present. Princess Agents is in a class of its own.

Visually, the costume and hair of the "ancient god" in TLoSL look very much like the one of Yuwen Yue sitting in his palace, and there's also a funny "parrot" bird Xūxū, in Shen Li's palace, that was as naughty and impudent as the colorful one in Yuwen Yue's palace.

The chemistry stayed excellent in the acting for the two artists, who have become long time friends. Only friends : after Princess Agents, Zhao Liying married another actor, Féng Shàofēn (whom she had met while playing in The Story of Ming Lan) , she became a mom, although the marriage floundered after three years (reputedly because of her husband's family wanting to control her too much); she and her ex are not enemies and she sees her son when possible, while continuing her career, ; her ex also takes up acting in other dramas).

Zhao Liying is a remarkable actress who tackles roles that are not always easy, in dramas as well as movies ; I was quite impressed by her portrayal of a modern misfit woman going through prison and taking care of an apparently mute inmate before their difficult release into a society that has not much use for people with a prison record. That movie is 2025 We Girls, in which she played with actress Lan Siya,whose skills have already awoken attention . Since then ZLY appeared in the "healing mini drama" (8 episodes) June 2025 What A Wonderful World, and in the January 2026 Reform era drama The Dream Maker, set in the 1980s (Reform era dramas have been quite the fashion for the past year or so, such as recently ended Ni Hao 1983 Dream of Golden Years starring Zhou Ye.)

As for Lin Gengxin (aka Kenny Lin), I also think he is an impressive actor with an undeniable stage presence although he seldom plays the oozing soft romantic type, but manages to keep attention even on guys who are a little darker than just "morally grey" such as the very controlling husband in the excellent drama The Tale of Rose. He embarked on a PhD in cinema studies in June 2024. But he has not totally put his acting career on hold : about two weeks ago, the drama crew of "Two Capitals and Fifteen Days,", a historical drama based on a Ma Boyong novel, starring Cheng Yi and LGX wrapped filming. Although it is tentatively announced for release on iQIYI in 2026, I think it may be more likely for 2027.

I wonder how the pair of new actors will fare in the (part remake?) or continuation of Princess Agents in upcoming drama Rebirth announced for April 8, so there is little time to go binge watch or re-watch the 58 episodes "original" drama (or 63 episodes depending on version with or without ads: yeah, that's where one gets the feeling of how much commercials can bloat a drama! The ads festival can be funny too, but there's a limit... ) ! Some says it is not necessary to have watched PA to dive into Rebirth.

Mmm ; I had not finished Princess Agents, because of the cliffhanger end (same as I took my time to complete Joy of Life) in wait for a possible continuation. So here am I, using part of Easter weekend to make up for tardiness, before planning to give Rebirth at least a peek 😅 I do get some of the criticism about make up etc, but at the moment, I am still watching and not bored. But I have more than half way to go still. Will I make it before time's up ?

(I had planned to watch some other costume dramas, but first 10 episodes fail to grab my attention same way as Pursuit of Jade did, so I will leave them on the back burner for a week or so -unless I get fed up with PA and go back to those very different ones: LBTG -err not to be confused with LGBT!!-- or VOS --which has nothing to do with Virtual Operating System but everything with the ninth son of a dragon. ...Both have nice OSTs and I am fond of music, so temptation is pulling me in different directions.).

I took my time to savor this drama (and research the Cantopop songs, see OST Discussion in the section above) and in the end, I still think this was the nicest drama about Reform era that I saw to date, combining inspirational themes and thriller quality.
I have posted my review, with a list of all the couples we saw along the way, the sad ones that dissolved, the successful ones, and of course, the one that transcended the time barrier.

To me, this is the one I prefer among all the works of Zhou Ye that I watched, and I will look forward to "meet" again in future works some actors and actresses who I noticed in the cast :
Zhai Xiaowen being the first, with his engaging voice,
but perhaps also Lawrence Wong who played the memorable Du Zhaohui,
Dong Xuan (Xia Xiaolan's mother) who can play very different types of mothers (I remembered her from The White Olive Tree, in which she played the not very likable mother of Song Ran, totally opposite to Nan Xing's adoptive mother in Mr Bad,
and a few other support roles in which she did not fade in the background), Zhao YuanYuan (Vivi, is also an actress who I remembered from past support roles in her already long career).

I leave this drama with a generally satisfied feeling. Was 1994 the time when the "modern Xia Xiaolan" was born (she was about 32 in 2026), and was the "dream" one of a previous incarnation or a real transmigration into another similar looking past Reform era? I tend to think the latter because of some things that should not have been easily found in the real 1983 or 1984 (the taser...)
We can dream up our own interpretation.

I maintain you have NOT watched the drama.

1/ you base your argument on a (mistaken? dishonest?) recollection of an event that's simply NOT in the drama.

I have watched and rewatched the drama enough to know all the episodes. You admit yourself to using your « memory » which was skewed and probably influenced by bias + online comments that you trusted more than looking at the work itself. Were you influenced by Avenue X (who parroted gossip that later got apologized about by the "attention seeker") ? She dishonestly fanned the toxic rumor of "pedophilia" that got beaten down later when the initial rumor launcher apologized and the national press in China untypically took up the case to defend the drama.

I will not go into breaking down all the scenes : that would be too long, and if you were honest, you would have re-watched to find where anything ruffled your sensitive feathers or lay down to rest your suspicions caused by gossips when you first watched the drama. BUT YOU DID NOT, AND ONLY THROW INTO OUR FACES A LIE (OR SHALL WE SAY KINDLY, A MISTAKE).

To go back to the drama, EP7 after Sang Zhi flew back tearfully from Yihe where she believed Jiaxu had become betrothed or married to the lady she saw there (the wife of Jiaxu’s boss) she put away her toys, and WE DON'T SEE HER GRADUATE + she did not board a car with him between Jiaxu's graduation and her arrival years later in Yihe.

So ...I believe you skimmed, imagined, and never really rated on a complete honest watch.

2/ Since you bring up your MD degree. Do you mean you are a medical doctor???? A pediatrician perhaps? Or a psychiatrist ? You ought to know what a pedophile is then although it looks like you perhaps don’t really know. A simple Google inquiry could tell you what it is actually.

Certainly not someone like Duan Jiaxu. I repeat and maintain there are no such hints as him showing signs of exhibiting deviant sexual attraction for little girls or behaving in a lecherous way, collecting nude pics, groping or caressing in any ambiguous way etc like a Harvey Weinstein. He does not take trips to Thailand or elsewhere to rape / pounce on kids. He was not obsessed with children, not even about Sang Zhi whom he met when she was 14 Although due to her sickly early childhood she still looked like she was only 10, according to the book and script, therefore production choosing a very young actress to play that early part of the role, which ruffled some audience because the age gap between her and both of her "bros" looked too important then.

"Pedophilia is a psychiatric and paraphilic disorder characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, generally defined as those aged 13 years or younger. ...... (find the rest doing a few minutes research) "

Watching pedophile porn is tantamount to abetting abuse, and so is collecting pictures of real life kids stolen to hep the abuser get his fix of fantasies. Accusing the drama of portraying a pedophile is a serious slur and slander. Totally at odds with It passing censorship which is very prickly in China for general public - this was broadcast on TV, not on lesser watched online streaming only.

Do you even know what a PREDATOR really looks like among sexual offenders? Your claim that poor Jiaxu is one is simply out of line.

And about your "homie" argument : you sound very controlling of your possible (do you even have one?) sister, and I would not put it past you to be a closet PN appearing all ingratiating first and next very aggressive when someone rebukes you.

3/ It is dishonest of you to present yourself as a fan of Zhao Lusi when it is clear from your previous posts here, from your watch list, and from your past comments on the Hidden Love drama page, that you do not value her much as an actress or as a person.

You claim you watched Hidden Love in 2023, and I remembered vaguely your comments then, although I did not take part much in the comments section after having expressed my anger at YouTuber AvenueX

I remember that your interactions then were to bring down the drama, and instead hype another one (which is not bad, I rated it 9.5, myself.).

Watching several dramas from one artist does not constitute belonging to a fandom, even though I acknowledge you did watch and like a good handful of ZLS dramas. But it jarred that you stated, in 2023, that you thought the only reason LLTG was a success was not Zhao Lusi's acting but only the director of that drama. Strangely you forgot (?) to add in your list one drama that you claim to have watched "Oh! My Emperor!", and other dramas before ROTAR. or the ones after LLTG and GenZ: you did not spare a minute on them independently. You (forgot to add?) or did not want to spare time on her latest drama, "Love's Ambition" after she fell ill in 2024 and almost died.

You did express a lot of opinions about her leaving KU and be "cooked" offering opinions about her health and that she should delete her past Weibo account. I noticed that you asked on her MDL page what she was doing but did not seem very aware of her other work in singing , other skills, video or charities.

This is not being a fan. Fans do not need to know everything about an artist nor to have watched the complete filmography of said artist. But they never try to disparage or bring down the work of the artist they are supposed to support or not pay more than lip service attention to a project that was long mentioned. They may not rate everything sky high but they certainly are not aloof and opposed to other fans as you seem to be.

The way you expressed your position against ME and Zhao Lusi fans is shall we say, impolite (',....you guys " ???) Sorry but I take offense there .

And btw I only claim to be a modest "fandom explorer", not just someone partial to the true kelulis or the other name they went by before Rosy renamed her fandom. I am not disparaging any, actor or actress from a rumor based smear campaigns, even those whose singing or voice grates on my nerves : I view these as handicapped but as long as they are modestly aware and try their best to please through their efforts, I'll still support them.

Seriously, . 算了 ! I have other fish to fry than spending time answering here someone who I now don't believe really cares about other people, artists or fellow commentators, but brags about his diplomas to assert "their" feelings of superiority. Goodbye to you, end of interaction.

I agree.

Yes it does look like her! Jwells is very dedicated! But your list is also good to go to, hope you'll have time to keep it up to date. But do what you need to do first and enjoy what to watch, of course 👍

Her fantasies are not always sweet, but at least she did not wear stilettos for that one 😊

非常感谢-我同一你的意思 😊

Of course you are, dear, just don't choke on your chai because of the drama and comments! Take care of your health first! 😊
How's the weather your side? On mine, it was cloudy and cool, perfect for pu'erh health tea. after some eggs and some nuts for breakfast. Busy afternoon upcoming, so I'm cool with having to wait until Friday or later for developments on this drama.

These that you point to, are CP posters and not main drama posters that are the first thing one thinks of when "posters" for dramas are discussed. Of course they showcase the lead actor and actress. But me, I would not mistake one for the other.

Horizontal format may be a new trend though ; I was more used to photoshot vertical ones in the dramas where I explored the posters - have not done so yet, for this one. So thanks for making clearer what you meant.

Why do you get so worked up that you need to scold the character 😊

Btw 30 year old women CAN still be naive and girlish, irl, especially in our times where neoteny is more prevalent in minds preoccupied with cuteness and innocence (typically comfy angelic Hua Ze Lei fans). This kept-secluded (of her own choice) baby faced Shan Cai is slowly going to realize that her youth model is not what she really needs, and neither is projecting a Daoming Si fantasy on him.

Btw her imagining the fox on lawyer Xu's shoulder was very cute and neotenous!
Of course she is upset that he knew about her fantasies but stringed her along as if he was secretly mocking her. She also knows that she is not perfectly fair in projecting her own feelings of guilt on her ex/still present crush. That's why she needs to cool her head first before stepping up on next level. He kept track of her temperature in such a way that she can't escape realizing he is not toying with her. She is embarrassed, but now both will of course soon meet half way to clear up the doubts.

Not immediately. The drama only reached ep.15/30. There is competition from other romance dramas and strongly anticipated costume blockbusters landing hard on screens, on the heels of Pursuit of Jade. Competing for attention and airing slots is not easy with the crowded menu on hand. For audience to take it slow as a relaxing aside from heavier dramas is perhaps the best option. Express is for making money but marketing projections will decide if this is a sound option vs slower release and banking on the ads slots that are paid for.

Loving how the drama promotes beautiful places: Shen'ao village near Hangzhou is such a pretty "cun"! Hangzhou is already leafy and beautiful, but villages in Zhejiang and Jiangsu along the waterways are also unforgettable.
It is a good idea to go to beautiful places if something is being bothersome : it also helps to get perspective. Ruan Yu was right to do this relatively small trip!

Yes, this drama may have re-watch value, both for details and for entertainment. 😊

No offense 😊

I know the rules and conventions of c-ent and why it usually is so. But you ought to put your answer to me in spoiler tags. 😌

They don't look similar nor identical to me at all.
I thought the DoGY poster looked more like a Romeo and Juliet like poster, with the flowers and young lady at the balcony, but why not? The background propaganda poster on the wall sets the starting date : 1983.
Live up to your youth poster shows a bunch of 8 people (and a kitten) looking up skywards , excitedly, from the bottom of a courtyard where they stand or sit around a table with fruit (bananas etc). Totally different : no flowers, no balcony, no indication of year.
Whether the graphics were designed by artist or by AI, I don't know but would assume it is by artist since precisely, too similar posters could lead to a dispute : and this one has not stirred any raising of eyebrows by anybody except in your suspicious mind?

But FL in Shine on Me was Zhao Jinmai and ML was Song Weilong ?
I don't remember the dress in that other romance drama.

Oops you did NOT watch Hidden Love. Sang Zhi had a hidden crush for her big brother's best friend, but said friend only viewed her as a cute little sister who needed coaxing to study harder and with more confidence in herself (defending her from bullying and be tactfully helped when she had her first period, all this together with big bro, he being big bro 2), so he took pains, since he already was coaching other kids to pay for his studies, to coach her in physics over one holiday with full approval from parents, and send her toys to encourage her getting better grades.
When she sought him up in his hometown, he truly believed she had a crush on some online lecher who was playing with her adolescent affections, and went there to find her accompanied by his boss' wife, to ship her back to family and studies as he would have done for a blood sister.
When she went to university in his hometown and her brother asked him to look out for her, he did not at all pounce on her after having waited for years: Duan Jiaxu had become used to be an old bachelor not attracted by romance, and was dumbfounded when he realized the young lady had feelings for him. Only then did he allow himself to think of romance, encouraged by a former college mate who was marrying, and by the wife of his boss to whom he explained his worries about their not-so enormous age gap.

-- It's a sweet and not at all pedophilia story. That was slander that got cleared up and regretted with due apologies by the idiot who had not watched the drama when she first disseminated that "judgement", online, and by the press which made it clear too. You ought to treat yourself to watch that sweet drama someday, without wearing blinders...